Pirates: Emergence, Glory and Setbacks

The term pirate may be familiar to readers. The term may be popularized by films / novels that are often found in the present era. However, behind the story of pirates in the modern era, stored dark history in it. Pirates in the real world are very close to cruelty and violence. They did not hesitate to kill to get property. So that when pirates triumph, the ocean seems to be a horrible and terrorist place.

The appearance of the Pirates
Shortly after the Spanish colonies in America began to produce great wealth, pirates began plundering Spanish ships carrying American gold or Portuguese ships from Brazil. Apart from attacking the ship, some of the bolder pirates such as Francis Drake also attacked and looted the port.

Francis Drake, one of the earliest pirates

Aside from being a freelance pirate, several early pirates also worked as privateers. Privateers are French, Dutch, and especially British sailors who operate in the Caribbean and in the Atlantic on behalf of their government, who have issued them a letter of marquee to attack enemy shipping during the war.

Some pirates also regularly surpass their authority and attack every ship they meet. Although privateers can use the reason to attack enemy ships during the war, many modern historians better understand their actions are determined by the terrible treatment of Spain against Native Americans, from whom they get most of their gold and silver.

The initial attack on Spanish ships that sailed across the Atlantic caused Spain to build a treasure fleet from the 1560s. This treasure fleet involved a large number of ships, including many warships, which sailed together to bring manufactured goods to America and returned with gold or silver.

In the second half of the 16th century, Britain, France and the Netherlands established settlements in the Caribbean, which their privateers used as a basis for their attacks on Spain.

British pirate Francis Drake succeeded in capturing several Spanish treasure ships in 1580 and looted the ports of Santo Domingo and Cartagena in the Caribbean in 1585, and later that same year attacked and robbed the port of Cádiz in Spain. This led to the Anglo-Spanish War of 1585-1604, which turned many British pirates into privateers, weakening the Spanish naval trade and providing many sources of profit for British and Dutch traders.

While Francis Drake operated as if for patriotic reasons, the Spaniards denounced him as a pirate. In the early 17th century, a large number of pirates operated in the Caribbean. They used European settlements that were isolated around the West Indies, with some operating from their own bases in isolated bays. Some places, such as Port Royal in Jamaica, became a famous place for pirates. The city gained a reputation as one of the "richest and most evil cities" in the world. Other places used by pirates include the islands of Antigua and Barbados.

The Thirty Years' War, which lasted from 1618 to 1648, caused the new Protestant-Catholic conflict to begin again in Europe. The battle in the West Indies was inevitable. It was during this period that British and Dutch ships increasingly actively attacked people who favored Spain and France. It was during this period that British privateers and pirates began using Nicaragua's Mosquito Coast to set up bases, which enabled them to easily attack Spanish ports and Spanish ships.

Pirate Golden Age
From 1660 to 1720 or often called the golden age of piracy, pirates were once again operated as privateers. In the Period there can be found several ships sailing under the famous "Jolly Roger" flag. In addition, British pirates aim to attack Spanish and French ships.

There was also a British attack on the Netherlands; The island of Saint Eustatius, a Dutch sugar island, was attacked by pirates and British soldiers on many occasions. The island was contested until it moved the authorities 10 times in the 1660s and early 1670s. French pirates also began operating freely from their ports on the island of Hispaniola (modern Haiti and the Dominican Republic).


One of the most famous pirates of the golden age was Sir Henry Morgan, a Welsh pirate. He looted the city of Portobelo in Panama, which was heavily guarded. Morgan then destroyed the city of Panama in 1671 but was later captured by the British, because the attack violated an agreement between Britain and Spain.

Henry Morgan was one of the most famous pirates in the golden age

At his trial in London, Morgan was able to prove that he had no prior knowledge of the agreement and was finally released, given a knighthood, and was appointed lieutenant governor of Jamaica.


Other pirates such as Edward Teach, "Blackbeard," became famous not only because of their savagery but also because of their strange appearance. He was killed in a battle against Lieutenant Maynard in 1718.

Anne Bonny and Mary Read the two most famous female pirates

There were also female pirates such as Anne Bonny, who came from Ireland, and Mary Read from London, who was arrested and tried in 1720 in Jamaica. The second career of this female pirate, which began when the former joined the crew of the "Calico Jack" Rackham, but their career ended after being arrested and imprisoned in 1720. Read died in prison, while Bonny's fate was unclear.

End of the Pirate Era
After 1720, a stronger European fleet throughout the Caribbean caused a large decline in the number of pirates operating in the region. At the end of the War of Spanish Succession, the Treaty of 1714 Utrecht allowed the British to sell African slaves in America, and many former pirate crews switched professions as slave traders.

Countries involved in the Caribbean trade decided to eliminate the threat of pirates on their profitable trade routes. In 1720, two well-known pirates, Charles Vane and "Calico Jack" Rackham, were hanged at Port Royal, and two years later about 41 pirates were hanged there in one month.

Without the ability to seek refuge in places like Port Royal, although some pirates continued to operate until the 1750s, their access to ports was increasingly difficult. This condition was accompanied by European powers which massively strengthened their guarding of their West Indian goods, so that the sea's risk of being caught was even greater. The result was a reduction in piracy and the former pirates themselves had to find new jobs in the slave trade. shipping legitimate merchandise, or the wood industry.


The romantic image of pirates is maintained by many writers, such as Daniel Defoe, who wrote the General History of Pirates (1724), which describes the lives of many famous pirate individuals, and later Robert Louis Stevenson on Treasure Island (1883). In the present era the subject of piracy and piracy remains popular in today's novels, dramas and films.

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